“…because when he finally met his fantasy woman, he wanted more than anything to believe that she was, in fact, a woman.”(Act III Scene I)

The story of M. Butterfly is a dramatic and tragic story of love, politics, and deception. It is a parallel of Giacomo Puccini’s Madame Butterfly. Author David Hwang compares the tragic stories of Gallimard and Song with Pinkerton and Cho-Cho-san. We encounter deception and treason in Song’s part as he disguises himself as a woman to acquire top secret military knowledge. Gallimard is too enamored by the Oriental woman to know the difference between “he” and “she”. He loves her Butterfly to the end when he rejects reality and dies for a fantasy. Song performs the greatest acting challenge, blinding Gallimard from seeing reality, and fooling a nation altogether.

One word that can describe Song is deceiver. He is an actor in the play and an actor takes up a role and performs it to the best of his ability. An actor is nothing without an audience, and what better one than France itself? Song is able to leak information form the allied nations in regards to secret military strategies. For twenty years, Song fools Gallimard, in the streets and in the sheets.

In Act II Scene VI, Gallimard visits Song after many weeks without even contacting her or replying to her letters. He had been recently promoted in the embassy and seeks Song to tell her the good news. He has been drinking and his Western ways dominate his sense of reason.   He seeks the same power in bed and asks to see Song naked. Knowing this would blow his cover, Song begs for her to keep her shame and dignity. They begging kissing and the scene gets heated. In the climax of their love before Gallimard can go any further down, Song announces that she is pregnant. With this single quick-thinking act Song saves the bluff and anchors her relationship with Gallimard. She had made concrete what Gallimard had been dreaming of, a son. Song knew his wife could not bear children so to give him a son of their own would definitely seal the deal.

The driving force behind Songs Actions is his disdain for Western ideas and treatment of Oriental people. He has vowed vengeance in the name of China and will take up the “suicidal” mission of becoming M Butterfly to save China from the “white devil”. Song has a duo identity, as it is shown that he is homosexual in nature. He takes up the acting role, but no one knows for sure when he was acting as vengeful-Song or homosexual-Song.

Upon reading M. Butterfly, I am more aware of stereotypes and racism around the world around me. I gained knowledge in not only American history around the Vietnam War years but also of the Chinese Cultural Revolution. This story is a great portrayal of the complex relationships between the West and the East and how the people of each side of the world look upon the other. The West sees a submissive weak Oriental nation while the East sees a power-seeking destructive nation. The main topic that I enjoyed learning about was the power of our own imagination and fantasy which Gallimard demonstrates can even blind us from reality. If we can control with powerful force, we can gear it to help us reach our career goals and even romantic endeavors.

Hwang, David Henry. M. Butterfly. New York: Dramatists Play Service, 2008. Print.

LitCharts. "The Character of Song Liling in M. Butterfly from LitCharts | The Creators of SparkNotes." LitCharts. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 May 2017.

Rich, Frank. "Review/Theater; 'M. Butterfly,' a Story Of a Strange Love, Conflict and Betrayal." The New York Times. The New York Times, 20 Mar. 1988. Web. 23 May 2017.